City of Benicia This Week
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In this edition: Resiliency Planning for Natural Hazards, Take the Downtown Parking Survey Today!, Annual Winter Concert Returns Saturday, Eastern Gateway Updates, Animal Care Services Report, State Assembly Guide to Constituent Services, City Employee Spotlight, A Message from Solano County Public Health, COVID Assistance

Message from the City Manager
December 6, 2021

Hello Everyone,
I’d like to start by thanking everyone involved in bringing together the Tree Lighting ceremony Friday night. It was heartwarming to see so many people coming together in such a positive way. It was especially moving to see the joy on the faces of the many children who attended. Very special thanks to Ann Dunleavy and her amazing team in Parks and Community Services and Nancy Martinez and her team at Benicia Main Street as well as our Police Department and Public Works Department. Events like this don’t happen safely and seamlessly without a great deal of work and attention both leading up to the event as well as during the event…and even the cleanup afterwards. 
 
There are several more events coming up, including the Christmas Parade & Holiday Market on Saturday, December 11. The Parade begins at 10 a.m. and the Market from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. (here is a link for more information). I encourage everyone to come out and support this event and take the opportunity to shop and eat at our local businesses. 
 
Also on Saturday December 11, the Friends of the Benicia Library Book Sale will take place at the lower level of our Library at 150 East L St. Thousands of books, CDs, DVDs and puzzles will be available. Please stop by and support our Library.
 
With the increasing vibrancy of our downtown, we have also seen increasing pressure on downtown parking. Included below is a link to have your voice heard in our better understanding of the conditions and needs of our community, both business, residential and visitors. I encourage thoughtful dialogue on this important matter for our future. Having run parking enforcement in a very large community, I would caution that there are few easy solutions. With the exception of striping and signage, approaches such as parking enforcement, physical changes to the roadway, residential parking permits, parking meters and paid parking solutions, all come with their benefits and drawbacks…and often unintended consequences. Perhaps one of the most impactful solutions requires very little. If all the downtown business owners and employees park off of First Street, that alone would help alleviate the situation substantially.
 
Finally, two important items on the agenda for Tuesday’s Council meeting. We’ll be continuing our discussion of the City’s face-covering requirements and the Finance team will be presenting an overview of the City’s debt.

Thank you for your interest in the City of Benicia This Week! If you enjoy reading this weekly message, please share and encourage your friends, family, and coworkers to subscribe or text jointhisweek to 22828 (messaging and data rates may apply).

Erik Upson
City Manager
City News
Resiliency Planning for Natural Hazards
Over the next eighteen months, the City of Benicia will conduct a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment as required by State law and then amend the Community Health and Safety Element of the Benicia General Plan. The information from the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) will be used to develop adaptation and resilience goals and to update the Community Health & Safety Element, allowing the City to plan for future climate-related or other hazards. Potential hazards to be assessed include the risk of wildfire, smoke/air quality impacts, seismic events, extreme heat events, flooding, sea level rise, and others.

Throughout this process the City will be updating the Safety Element project webpage with new information: www.ci.benicia.ca.us/safetyelement. If you would like to stay engaged with this work, we recommend signing up for email updates which will be sent at major project milestones.

Tentative CCVA Project Timeline:
January/February 2022
Public Review of Vulnerability Assessment
February/March 2022
Public Hearing for Vulnerability Assessment
April/May 2022
Community Workshop
June/July 2022
Public Review of draft amendments to Community Health & Safety Element
July/August 2022
Public Hearing on draft amendments to Community Health & Safety Element
September/November 2022
Prepare Environmental Review Document (CEQA)
Winter 2022/2023
Public Hearings to consider adoption of final General Plan amendments

Please direct any questions to Senior Planner Danielle Crider at dcrider@ci.benicia.ca.us or 707.746.4324.
Take the Downtown Parking Survey Today!
The City of Benicia is conducting a survey asking Benicia residents and business owners to take of few minutes to answer important questions about parking in downtown Benicia. This survey will help develop Phase II of the Downtown Benicia Parking Study and provide Benicia City Council with a menu of options to enhance parking in our downtown, which they will consider and acted upon in the first quarter of 2022.
 
Don’t miss out on providing your valuable input. Click this link and take the survey today: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QRNBG8B. The survey will be open through Wednesday, December 15.
 

Thank you for your interest and input to help downtown Benicia thrive.
Annual Winter Concert Returns Saturday
The annual Winter/Holiday Concert returns Saturday, December 10 at 7 p.m. at the Veteran's Memoria Hall, 1150 First Street. (Please note the change of venue.)

The Diablo Regional Concert Band is excited to be able to present a holiday concert again this
year! The band is made up of all volunteers who meet weekly to enjoy making music together and prepare for concerts in Martinez, Benicia and surrounding areas. Come join them for the concert which will include a sing-along. 

Admission is free but donations are accepted. This event is hosted by Benicia Public Library.
Eastern Gateway Updates
The City of Benicia proposes to adopt zoning and General Plan amendments to establish new mixed-use zoning districts in a commercial and residential area referred to as the Eastern Gateway (see below map of Eastern Gateway area). The proposed mixed-use zoning will accommodate new multi-family housing in this area and streamline approval of new housing development.

Planning Commission Hearing for Eastern Gateway
The Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, December 9 at 7 p.m. (via Zoom) will review amendments to the Benicia General Plan and zoning for the Eastern Gateway Study. To view the agenda, documents, and link to join the meeting, visit ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas.

Planning Approvals & Mitigated Negative Declaration
The draft General Plan Amendments, draft Zoning Amendments, the Draft Initial Study-Mitigated Negative Declaration, and all other related documents are posted on www.ci.benicia.ca.us/easterngateway.

Required Planning Approvals
The proposed Eastern Gateway Specific Plan includes General Plan amendments to establish two new land use categories: Mixed Use Infill (MU-I) and Mixed Use Limited (MU-L). The General Plan amendments would include adoption of a new General Plan goal, with corresponding policies and programs, to allow future development of multi-family housing in the Eastern Gateway Study Area, in addition to the existing mix of commercial and residential uses. The project includes amendments to the Zoning Ordinance to establish two new corresponding mixed-use zoning districts, Mixed Use Infill (MU-I) and Mixed Use Limited (MU-L), along with zoning regulations for the new districts.

California Environmental Quality Act
The City of Benicia intends to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the described project in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Based on the Initial Study prepared for the project, the City has prepared a Draft MND pursuant to CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines. The City has prepared the Draft MND to analyze environmental impacts associated with implementation of the proposed project and to propose measures that will eliminate or mitigate potentially significant impacts to less than significant levels. The Draft MND for the proposed project is available for public review during the public comment period of December 3, 2021 through January 3, 2022.

Public comment and questions regarding the Eastern Gateway Specific Plan or the Draft MND should be directed to Senior Planner Danielle Crider at dcrider@ci.benicia.ca.us or 707.746.4324, or by appointment at City Hall.
Animal Care Services Report
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Solano County Sheriff's Office Animal Care Services Division recently shared the 2020-21 Animal Care Services Annual Update. The update includes information detailing accomplishments for the past year and projects/enhancements they are working on, along with the year-end projection for FY 2021/22 and budget forecast for FY 2022/23.

Solano County has Memorandum of Understandings with all seven Solano County cities for animal care services.
State Assembly Guide to Constituent Services
Assemblymember Timothy Grayson (14th District representing Benicia) recently shared a Guide to Constituent Services containing contact information for State agencies from Attorney General to Workers' Compensation. The Guide also contains a list of what kind of help is available through an Assembly office. Take a look to see how they can help you.
City Employee Spotlight
Robert Newman is the City's new Climate Action/Sustainability Coordinator in the Economic Development Division. He has degree in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley and a degree in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco with a professional background in working with environmental programs, sustainability, stormwater, emergency preparedness, and emission inventories. Robert comes to Benicia after serving as the Environmental Services Manager for the City of Vallejo with the goal of working with residents and businesses to increase sustainability of resources and reduce carbon emissions.
 
Robert’s hopes to bring a creative and positive outlook and provide constructive new ideas to improve the Economic Development Division. Since joining the City of Benicia in October, Robert has been putting his skills to work in coordinating and updating the Climate Action Plan, researching new grant opportunities, compiling greenhouse gas emissions for 2020, restarting the Business Resource Incentive Program, updating the City's Sustainability webpage and working with the City's Community Sustainability Commission.
 
In his spare time, empty-nesters Robert and his wife love to travel. They have a post-COVID trip planned for Spain and Portugal. Robert also enjoys golfing and hiking.
A Message from Solano County Public Health
Last Wednesday, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reported the first U.S. case of the Omicron variant in California - please see here for the full press release from CDPH. Several more cases of the Omicron variant have been detected throughout the U.S since then.

Emergence of New COVID-19 Variant
On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified a new variant, Omicron (B.1.1.529), as a Variant of Concern and on November 30, 2021, the United States also classified it as a Variant of Concern. We do not yet know how infectious this variant is or if it causes severe illness. Along with the CDC and CDPH, we are continuously monitoring the variant’s presence and progress in our community and throughout the country.

We must remain vigilant against this variant, but it is not a cause for panic. The emergence of the Omicron variant emphasizes the importance of general prevention strategies -- getting vaccinated or getting a booster; wearing a mask indoors; getting tested when symptoms for COVID-19 appear; and staying home when sick -- to protect against COVID-19.

Protect Yourself and Your Family Members: Get the COVID-19 Vaccine/Booster

Additional Resources
COVID Assistance
Find vaccine locations, resources and information for seniors, local food access, basic needs and rental assistance, mental health, stress and coping, and more courtesy of Solano County Public Health. Benicia residents in need of help during these difficult times may find assistance through these local resources:
Press Releases

Recent City of Benicia Press Releases are available on the City of Benicia website under Main/Announcements.
Save the Date
Modified service due to COVID-19
City Hall is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you require entrance to City Hall offices outside of these hours, please make arrangements with staff from the department that you will be visiting.

All visitors shall be required to enter City Hall from East L street through the door located on the left (East) side of the building closest to the Post Office. Please check in with the staff person at the designated Welcome Window.

You will be required to wear a face covering over both your nose and mouth for the duration of your visit to City Hall. Please maintain 6 feet of social distancing between other visitors and staff. Do not visit City Hall if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Appointments can always be rescheduled.
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